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Friday, February 5, 2010

In a recent newsletter, the Rails-to-Trails Conservatory reported that there are (at least) 1,631 rail-trails around the country with 19,578 "open trail miles."

I'm willing to round that up to 20,000 miles. Wow!!!! That's a lot of trail miles. I can't wait to ride them all.

In addition, there are 724 project trails in various stages of development around the country. As you're reading this, someone is probably planning, designing, or building a trail. My hat is off to those folks.

I'm a big supporter of the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, American Trails, and other civic trail-building organizations.

As you will read many times in this blog, trails are good for our physical health, our mental health, our environment, our families, and our country. I honestly believe that trails are the best investment we can make in our economy. Not only do they provide all the benefits listed above, but they also create jobs and recreation for the average people.

As far as economic stimulus, putting some of that money into trail-building would be the best possible use of federal, state, and local funds. So, I hope you will consider joining a trail group and contacting your government representatives about utilizing some of our tax dollars to build trails for yourself, your kids, your neighbors, and your country.